Consequences
by JA Baker
Summary: They hadn’t intended it to happen, and they thought they’d put it behind them, but fate had other ideas...


_Italic text denotes flashback/daydreams_

**Consequences**

Day dreaming was becoming a big problem for Jack. More than once he'd drifted off during a briefing or other supposable important lecture. It hadn't been that much of a problem before, back when General Hammond was still in command.

But now _he_ was the General in charge of the SGC, and was supposed to set a good example

Things had been relatively ok until a little other a month ago, when he'd gone through the gate to finalise a trade agreement with another member of the Protected Planets Treaty...

_Tintagel was in the early stages of its industrial revolution and wanted advice on how best to proceed. In exchange they were willing to trade Naquadah in useable amounts. It hadn't been really necessary for him to go, but the locals had heard that the Asgard held him in high regard, and wanted to meet the man who was considered a personal friend by Thor._

_The fact that the indigenous population knew the truth about the Asgard had made things easier, as Jack never liked having to keep up the pretext that they were gods. The Asgard may be benevolent, especially compared to the Goa'uld, but it still didn't sit right with him_

_A huge party had been held by the planetary government, with SG-1 as guests of honour. Jack had felt a little out of place, but the crowd had been big enough for him to lose himself and find somewhere quiet to enjoy the local ales. The drink was smoother than anything he'd tasted before, and he'd been guarantied that, while it would have some intoxicating effects, they were a lot less than any Earth brew._

_Hours had gone by, Jack drinking in the relative peace and quiet of the balcony, with only SG-1 and their local guide for company._

_The guide, a young woman named Anya, was apparently a local expert on the Stargate and its impact on her people's history. She'd hit it off with Daniel immediately, and Jack was sure that there was more than professional interest there. His friend was, as ever, completely clueless, too caught up in the science and history to notice that a beautiful young woman was hitting on him._

_Desperate for Daniel to find some happiness in his life, Jack had 'accidentally' tripped, pushing his friend into Anya. The young historian had taken the opportunity to kiss the startled Egyptologist, and then led him away somewhere for private._

_Teal'c had left, needing to catch up on his kelnorim. He no longer needed to meditate, but he found it restful, a good way to re-centre himself._

_Jack suddenly found himself alone with Sam, who was dressed in a rather slinky dress provided by their hosts..._

A knock on his office door brought Jack back to reality, and he looked up to see the same Lt. Col. Samantha Carter standing in the doorway, dressed in her usual duty uniform.

"Can I talk to you, sir?" She asked, somewhat hesitantly.

"Of cause you can, Carter." Jack nodded, "My door is always open."

"Thank you, sir." Sam stepped inside and closed the door behind her, "It's personal."

"Have a seat." Jack pointed at the empty chair on the other side of his desk as he sat upright, "What's on your mind?"

"It's about..." Carter swallowed, "It's about what happened on Tintagel..."

_The rather unusual light from twin moons cast strange shadows, and Jack was starting to feel to effects of the local Ale. Needing to find a safe topic, he'd asked Sam how the wedding plans were progressing. He'd been more than a little surprised when she'd collapsed into his arms, sobbing uncontrollably._

_Bemused more than anything, Jack had tentatively put an arm around his subordinate, asking her what was wrong, if there was anything he could do. He'd meant it: despite his feelings for Sam, she was first and foremost a good friend and close colleague, and he hated the idea that something could upset her to this degree. In almost a decade of knowing her, he had never seen her so distraught._

_Sam had held back the tears long enough to tell Jack what had happened: two weeks before, she'd flow to Denver, catching the jump-seat on an Air Force transport headed that way, intending to surprise Pete by arriving a day early, allowing them to spend a long weekend together. Letting herself into Pete's apartment with the key he had given her, she had heard someone in the bedroom. Wanting to surprise him, she'd made her was silently along the hallway until she reached the bedroom door._

_What she'd found had shattered her world: Pete had been in bed with another woman._

"Carter, if it's about what you told me about Pete; I haven't said a word to anyone."

"It's not that, Sir. It's about what happened afterwards."

_Jack had stood in stunned silence as Sam told him the rest of the story._

_Not trusting herself, Sam had left silently, stopping only to take off her engagement ring and drop it on the table by the door to Pete's apartment. Taking a cab back to the airport, she'd got herself a seat on the first flight back to Colorado Springs. Cassie had been more than a little surprised to see her when Sam had arrive home, tears already flowing freely down the side of her face. Cassie had wanted to call the rest of SG-1, but Sam had stopped her, saying that she wasn't ready to tell them just yet._

_Jack couldn't help but wished she had: he would have driven to Denver and punched Pete's lights out. He knew for a fact that neither Daniel nor Teal'c would have even tried to stop him: they would have felt the same._

_Knowing that her engagement was over, and that there was nothing she could do about it, Sam had responded by throwing herself into her work. Swearing Cassie to secrecy, she had avoided Pete at every turn, going so far as to spend an entire weekend on-base._

"I thought we agreed to chalk that one up to experience and never mention it again?"

"It's a little more complicated that that, sir." Sam took a deep breath, "I'm late."

"That's ok; we can continue this later."

"I don't mean that kind of late..."

"Oh?" Jack blinked, and then realisation hit him like the proverbial ton of bricks, "Oh!"

_Walking Sam back to her room, Jack had done everything he could to reassure her that everything was going to be ok._

_Jack had gone to say goodbye, but Sam had stopped him, keeping her grip on his hand and she opened the door and stepped inside. Cold moonlight had filled the room as Sam pulled Jack into the room, letting the door close behind them with an audible click. Then, wrapping her slender arms around his neck, she had kissed him deeply, pulling her body against his. He had responded by enveloping her in a tight embrace, running his hands up and down her soft back._

"_Come to bed." Sam had almost moaned as she broke away from the kiss, _

"_That's not such a good idea." Jack had fought his own desirer as he looked down into her sparkling blue eyes, "I don't want you risking your career because you're upset._

"_I've never been so sure about anything."_

"_What about..."_

"_Pete's nothing to me: I know now that he was only a way of not-dealing with my feelings for you. That's why I was never fully into the relationship, why I was so distant I never saw his affair coming." She smiled, placing a finger on Jack's lips as she pulled him towards the bed, "No more words. Not now..."_

"Are you sure?" Jack sat up straight, shocked over what he'd been told.

"I missed my period, and have been feeling a little unwell in the mornings, so I went to the drug store and got a home pregnancy test." Sam looked slightly more in control of her mentions, "I took it twice, and both times it came out positive, so I went to my doctors and had a blood test. He confirmed it this morning. I'm keeping it; there's no question of that."

"Have you told Pete?"

"It's not his, sir: I can't take the pill, medical reasons, so I've always relied on other methods of contraception. The only time I haven't was on Tintagel."

_The feel of Sam's body pressed up against his own had been like a dream come true. The total trust that existed between them took over as they moved to the bed. It had all seemed so natural that Jack hadn't even try to fight it. The taste of her lips against his own drove him wild as they quickly shed their clothes._

_What followed couldn't have been wrong._

"Are you telling me...?"

"It's yours, sir. I understand if you want a paternity test..."

"For Gods sake Sam; what kind of man, what kind of friend, do you take me for? If you say its mine, then I believe you." Jack rubbed his forehead, feeling the sweat already starting to build up, "Does anyone else know?"

"I'm sure Cassie suspects, but she hasn't said anything, and I've not brought it up. I understand if you don't want anything to do with this: I can apply for a transfer..."

"Sam, that's the last thing I'd want."

"Then what do you want, sir?"

"_Jack!"_

_The sound of her calling his name at the height of her passion had been too much, and he felt like the world exploded, shattering into a million pieces._

"First off, you're going to stop calling me 'Sir': I think we're past that. Secondly," Jack looked at his watch and did some quick mental asthmatic, "Hammond should be home from the Pentagon in an hour or two. I'll call him from a pay phone off base and tell him what's going on, see if he can suggest a way of dealing with this that doesn't involve you ending up court marshalled for breach of regs."

"What about you? They could hang you out to dry."

"As much as I love my job, I'm not going to let you destroy your career to try and save mine. No, if the Brass wants someone to fall on their sword, it'll be me. At my age, I can probably dodge the bullet by retiring, again. But if they want to haul me over hot coals, then so be it."

"Sir, Jack, I could never ask you to do that for me."

"Sam, if you don't know how I feel by now, then you're not as smart as I know you are. I love you, and want to be with you, with the baby. That is, if that's what you want..."

"More than anything." Sam smiled, "What are we going to tell everyone?"

"The truth; or as much of it as they're cleared to know." Jack stood and walked round his desk, "Now come here and kiss me."

Sam stood, wiping away the last few tears. Jack enveloped her with his arm, bending his head down to kiss her deeply.

"Jack, I need to talk to you about..." Daniel walked in without knocking, stopping dead when he saw his two closest friends, "Maybe I should come back later..."

"Danny, it's ok." Jack smiled at his friend, "Come in and close the door; we have some important news..."

**The End**

_Sorry boys and girls, but this is a stand-alone story.  
You can all decide where it goes from here, and as ever, if you come up with an idea, feel free to writ it and post it.  
Just let everyone no where the idea came from._


End file.
